Tours, tours, tours....

Our last day in Boston. Our accommodation was ok. There were a few interesting things about. What would be your reaction when the first thing you see is this?

Yes, our own ear plugs with your choice of colours. No we didn't use any. Apparently they were needed due to the upstairs renters. For two days, no one was upstairs and when someone moved in, they were fairly quiet. Mind you when the hot water tank heated that got our attention with a loud blowing and drumming noise. Maybe they had personal earplugs upstairs too. Fortunately it came only in 10-minute intervals and only a couple of times a day. 

Once inside the "studio" we had plenty of head room and space to stretch out. 

 And the other rooms just fine. 

Behind those screen hides the hot water tank.

Living room with makeshift coffee table and a very slippery sofa. 

But a king size bed. Nice!!

For breakfast on our last full day we walked 30 minutes to Harry's All American, our first breakfast out since arriving here. Good home cooking, unfriendly waitress and reasonable prices. What more could you ask for, maybe happy servers. 

 After breakfast we headed into Boston and found a wonderful path way through Arnold Arboretum part of Harvard's holdings in Boston. What a pleasant surprise, walking in woods.

What a massive tree, a variety of beech.

Once in town we decided to take a boat ride to Georges Island, one of a dozen out in Boston harbour used for various purposes over the years. The National Park Serviceoffers tours of the island but surprisingly Charlie, the ship's tour guide, gave us an hour-long commentary all way out. 

A view of Boston's skyline. 

A sailboat, a rowboat, a ferry and the skyline! Nice eh? 

Georges Island was used for agriculture for 200 years until 1825 when the US government acquired it for defence purposes. Fort Warren was built in 1847. It was obsolete once completed so it became a training ground and later as a Civil War prison that gained a favourable reputation for the humane treatment of the Confederate prisoners. 

Our next tour guide, Tim, provide a not so stimulating 45-minute tour of the Fort. But we did enjoy the walkabout. Even Yellow Bunny found she could "hang out" there. 

Finding shade. The soldiers played baseball on the grass inside the fort's walls.

Looking back at Boston. 

One more selfie on the ship. 

We barely get back to land when we joined Free Tours by Foot, at 5pm with our guide, David, with a walk around the Back Bay, Chinatown and the Theatre District, called  Fire, Flood and Famine. This one is a little different than your normal historical themes. Starting at the magnificent Boston Public Library -- which we need at least two more days to explore -- we then walk at least two miles over two hours. Quite the tour!

Here is quick look outside and below of the library courtyard inside. All I had time to see of this magnificent building by the famous architects McKim,Mead and White before the tour. 

A little closer. 

On the tour we learned about nine firefighters who died when the Vendome Hotel floors collapsed in a 1977 fire and about the deaths of  490 people perished when the Cocoanut Grove nightclub burned down, about famous people of history and their influence on Boston, about land that was flooded and land that was reclaimed, 

This green space, a linear park, is called the Southwest Corridor park and is almost eight kms long. People protested in the '60s with People Before Highways! The park was completed in 1990. 

This is statue is of John Glover who helped George Washington cross the Delaware River. 

By the time we finished we were very hungry so devoured Chinese food and went home to pack to leave for Manchester, N.H. by bus Friday morning. 

We have made it to Harvard!

Another warm day in Boston but still not as humid as New York. As we mentioned we live a little way from downtown Boston so we get very familiar with the subway. By the time one leaves a town, you finally have it all figured out. We've been doing quite well and have yet to get lost. We "live" on the Orange Line.

Today we fulfilled one of Norm's sort of bucket list. He has always wanted to experience the Swan boats in Boston's Public Gardens. A beautiful park and truly a step back in time. These boats have been in operation since 1877. 

Someone sits in the swan and actually pedals to move the boat along, a nice slow pace. 

And here is Norm enjoying the ride. 

A view from the ride, once around the pond and under the bridge. A classic ride for just $3.50 for adults.

The park is really beautiful with lots of people just relaxing in the shade of the trees. 

 George watches over the entrance. (As in Washington) 

Next we headed up Beacon Hill, a short walk from the public gardens and Boston Common. This is the address you want if you live in Boston, very nice! We even saw where Louse May Alcott lived. Check her house entrance, well maybe it was for the hired help. More than one hobbit house here in Boston.

           

 A little history with a Canadian touch in Louisburg Square. It is named to commemorate the 1745 Battle of Louisburg during which an army of New England volunteers captured Cape Breton from the French. 

    

We had lunch in Beacon Hill at Figs. It was a delicious meal, Roasted Beet salad with pistachios and goat cheese. Norm had a chilled gazpacho soup and awesome rosemary garlic fries and Wunderkind cider. 

 

    

On to Harvard, a few stops up the red subway line, just the most prestigious institution in a city full of colleges and universities. Established in 1636, just 16 years after the first colonists arrived nearby, Harvard is the oldest place of higher learning in the U.S. It was named for the college's first benefactor, the minister John Harvard of Charlestown. Norm got to rub not his shoulders but his foot. Maybe it's good luck, as his the toes of his boots are rubbed shiny.

 It was great place to walk about, mixing with the other 20,000 degree candidates. And a wonderful old campus. 

Below, that's Mary on the steps between the columns holding up century-old Widener library (the columns that is, not Mary). Visitors are welcome to wander the campus but you need a Harvard ID to enter any of the buildings. At least we got into the off-campus Harvard Coop -- they pronounce it like a building for chickens, although it's a co-operative of students, staff and faculty that has a busy bookstore on three floors and a cafe. 

 Note the Henry Moore sculpture called Four Piece Reclining Figure, with Norman.

We even got to see Harvard's finest rowing on the Charles River. The famous Head of the Charles regatta will bring hundreds of rowers here later in September.

As we got ready to head for home we stopped for a drink at Grendel's Den (you English grads among the blog readership of course will know all about the monster in Beowulf) on JFK St. Original Sin Cider for me, Cambridge Amber for Norm and since we are seniors we shared a Grilled Lobster Roll.

Tomorrow is our last day in Boston. I wonder what is on the agenda?? 

Historical Boston

Welcome to Boston. With a bit of Google mapping and some discussion we found our way to the next Airbnb after a four-hour train ride from New York plus the local commuter train. It is a pleasant spot, a little off the beaten path in an area called Roslindale. It took us 30 minutes to walk to the closest subway station this morning but felt good to move. The entrance to our accommodation is what Norm refers to as a hobbit house. What do you think? 

Yellow Bunny fits quite well. Look closely for her. 

Once in downtown Boston we enjoyed a walk about Faneuil Hall, a market place for hundreds of years. The top floor is a meeting room where leaders of the American Revolution gathered in the 1770s to debate how to respond to increasingly repressive British acts. (Hey, we're here for only two days and already we are talking like revolutionaries.)  

And lunch in Quincy Market with its stunning rotunda.

 This is looking up. 

You can see how large it is compared to Norman. 

Now lunch on the Eastern Seabord has to be seafood - seafood chowder and lobster macaroni and cheese. Yummy!

This is Quincy Market.

Ice cream for dessert.

Just a note about selvies. In NY a woman walking by said, "oh you have matching hats. How cute!". So it has taken me a while to wear my hat at the same time as Norman but what the heck, it's the USA, who really looks?

Think they can tell we are tourists? 

We signed up for the National Parks walking tour of the Freedom Trail. A great one-hour plus walk and talk by Polly Keinle, our leader. We learned a lot about Boston's leadership in the fight for independence from Britain. She explained Paul Revere's contribution to the effort, more than just the "one if by land and two if by sea" from Longfellow's famous poem about Revere's midnight ride. Here is his house he bought in 1760. 

And of course the famous ride made famous by Longfellow who took a fair amount of poetic license in telling the story, we learned. 

In the background is the Old North Church where the actual lanterns were hung in the middle of the night and only for about one minute, warning patriots across the harbour that the redcoats were coming by sea, not by road. We toured the church which had such amazing history. Pews owned by individuals and family date from 1723. Some 1,100 people are buried in the church's crypt.

He does look like he is in deep thought. 

This says Gillam Phillips 1724. 

We then walked the Freedom trail to Bunker Hill, the site of a major battle between the British and the  Colonist. The Colonists had more men and held the upper ground on the north side of Boston harbour, but the British lost half of their troops killed and wounded. It was a "victory" for the redcoats but at a terrible cost.

Here is the monument to commemorate the battle, an obelisk like the monument in Washington to America's first president, completed several decades later. 

     

On the trail we stopped at Copp's Hill Cemetery. This tombstone is from 1623. The skull and wings were a common emblem at this time. 

     Heading home I just had to take a picture of the old state house. Love the Georgian-style buildings.

     And here is style in our neighbourhood, the triple-decker a common throughout Boston neighbourhoods,

         Tomorrow: Harvard and I think the swan boats. Stay tuned....